Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Kampung Boy to Stanford [English Version]

Greetings,

I am a
real ‘ Kampung Boy”. I came from a remote village in Kuala Kangsar district in
Perak- Kampung Keroh Hilir.

Always
considered myself as a 'Son of nature' and 'very rich in poverty'. My formal
schooling was only up to Form
Three I (Clifford School Kuala Kangsar). But through hard work, coupled with a
very strong commitment and determination I was able to set foot at the
University of Malaya ( 1974 ) and came out with an Honors Degree in History.,
after crossing ‘various hurdles’ such as Cambrige School Certificate
Examination and Higher School Certificate Examination. I did it by myself.
Alone!

Twelve
years later, I had the opportunity to further my studies at one of the
prestigious university in USA – Stanford University in Palo Alto, California,
to do my Masters in International Relations. It was at Stanford I was able to
‘rub shoulders’ with outstanding professors of world class such as Martin
Carnoy, Ted Koppel ( Visiting professor) and many others.

It never
crossed my mind, that a poor ‘ Kampung boy ‘ with a minimal formal education able to
set foot at Stanford University - an Ivy League. Sometimes they called it, “
Harvard of the West ‘

At the
insistence and encouragement of close friends and members of may family, which
prompted and compelled me to share
my ‘bitter’ and ‘sweet’ experience
with 'The children’' out there, through this Blog to discuss some issues related to nation building ,
regardless of their ethnic and religious affiliations. And of course 'Without
fear or favor'.

Against
the background of past experience
of being a teacher, administrator
and educational planner and as former Director of the Malaysian Students Department
in the United Kingdom, I want this Blog to be a platform for the young ( executives, students, teachers, etc.)
to discuss, debate and put forward their views and opinions towards nation
building, Malaysia.

Last but
not least, in addition to being an educator, I was also involved in writing
articles in newspapers and magazines in the 80s and 90s. Among the books that I
have penned were "Vision 2020" (1990), "Menebus Marwah '(1994)' and “From Bryanston Square
London '(2000).